DIY Eco Friendly Chemical Free Carpet Fresh Recipe

With the colder weather hitting Australia and the house being closed up with the heater cranked I noticed last night a bit of a smell about the place.

I know what the smell is as son number 2 ( bless him ) vomited all over my carpet earlier this week.

Having never had to deal with vomit on the carpet before I made up a bucket of warm soapy water and gave it a good wash then I sprayed vinegar infused with essential oils over the affected area and let it dry. After vacuuming I could not see the vomit but last night sitting on my couch I kept getting a slight whiff of it.

Now if I can smell it others must be able to as well so I racked my head this morning thinking what could I make to pop on the carpet to get rid of the smell.

So this is what I came up with.

I put 1 cup of Bi-Carb ( or baking soda as it is known to some of my readers ) into a glass bowl and added 20 drops of essential oil ( I did 10 drops sweet orange, 6 drops ylang ylang, 4 drops patchouli it’s my signature scent for the house ) and mixed well followed by 3 or 4 rounds through my sifter.

Once the essential oils were well combined with no clumps I transferred the mix into an old talc bottle.

I then proceeded to shake it all over my carpet concentrating on the smelly area. I let it sit for 15 min then I vacuumed it all up.

My house more so my carpet smells great. Not only can I not smell any vomit but the carpet appears to have had a “makeover”

I only used about a tablespoon all up for one application to a rather large area of carpet.

Be sure to only use the purest of essential oils, fragrance oil or any kind of dye is not recommended as it could stain your carpet.

Comments

Putting Bi-carb in the water when you wash or sponge anything that has been vomited on works well as does sprinkling it over the carpet and leaving it for a while. I think it neutralises the acid. Good to know if you have someone who doesn’t travel well. Even on a plane – the cabin crew can usually find you a bottle of soda water to sponge over clothes. Love your combination of essential oils!

I wanted to test that theory Dani. I own a Dyson. I vacuumed my carpet emptied it cleaned it, then I sprinkled exactly 100 grams of my carpet fresh on my rug. Then proceeded to vacumn. I then weighed what was in my vacumn and it was 97 grams. I am ok with that. I tell all men that if they love their wife they should buy her a dyson

Be careful doing this, only do it every once in a while, the baking soda builds up in the pad and if you have your carpet cleaned, it pulls it to the surface and puts a nasty crust on the top of your carpet. It can also clog the carpet cleaners hoses.

I buy my ingredients from a wholesaler in Sydney called SEOC if I need just a few things I go to Auroma these are Australian companies as I am in Australia. If you are after some ingredients in the US try Pine Meadows

I always keep big boxes of Baking soda around the house. My son threw up on his bed in the middle of the night once and I just sprinkled a lot of baking soda on the mess. I actually did this out of desperation. I had no idea how to clean up the mess. I left it until the nest afternoon when it was completely dry. I heaved the vac up there and vac’d it all up. I couldn’t smell anything even with my face buried in the mattress. It had soaked all the liquid.

I had the same problem as others with the baking soda making a crust on my carpet and now its a round white crusty stain of baking soda that never comes out. I have a terrific vaccum so that is not the issue. How does one remove the baking soda? I used it for black cat vomit to get the stain out? It got the color of the stain but the baking soda has that hard crusty surface, help!

I worked with a professional carpet cleaner and he said that people make the biggest mistake by using dish soap and water. Alot of times it sets stains in. The best thing is blot the junk up first, then use cool water and a white rag and blot, blot, blot. When dry and still smell, I think it is a good idea about the carpet freshner. If there is still a stain after cool water, then maybe the dish soap.

I had 2 older cats who have passed away at ages 21 & 23 yrs. Old when one one of the cats got a kidney infection she lost urine control on the recliner and carpet, I called our carpet professional and he told me that the best thing to do is get a gallon of cheap white vinegar pour all over the chair and area on carpet let set for 5 minutes then take towel start bringing up and repeat if necessary.. Took out the urine odor works on dog accidents also. We then go over area with carpet cleaner . That carpet cleaner profes. Saved us a lot of money. We bot a good carpet cleaner and use the vinegar when needed and clean the rugs every week or so in the areas were the old dog has gone , and there is no odor.

This is my story. I moved to a new place and the landlord told me they had just had the carpeting shampooed, I believed her since the carpeting upstairs was still a bit damp. Of course within a week my dog had to have an accident in the living room. I sprayed it with vinegar and sprinkled baking soda and let it dry. I then vacuumed it all up. Not only did it take care of the dog spot but it brought up what the professional cleaning did not. I am working on doing all the carpeting like this to get that old dirt out. It’s amazing the difference. I have been told that shampooing carpeting just pushes the dirt down and I didn’t believe it, I do now.

It should be noted that vinegar, while a good natural stain remover, is actually the WORST thing you can use for removing pet stains. Vinegar has an acidic base, which makes it good for breaking down visible stains. However that acidic base shares some properties and compounds found in urine. Urine and Vinegar have a similar pH level. Animals urinate based on scent. This holds true for both cats and dogs. Cats use a litter box based on the odor. Dogs sniff out an area to find where they have gone before and will continue to go in that spot. Because vinegar has a pH balance similar to urine, cats and dogs are both likely to mistake the smell of vinegar for that of urine. In turn they are likely to go to the bathroom in that spot again. Countless people run into the issue of their pet going in a spot they cleaned, and they can not figure out why their pet won’t stop going there. Often they blame it on housebreaking or behavior issues, but the fact is, it is the smell drawing them to that spot. This can also be verified by visiting the Human Society’s website. It also holds true for ammonia as well as vinegar. You are best off using a cleaner like Genesis 950 which not only removes the stains, but also removes the odor that can cause future issues. http://www.genesis950.com